Forecast

Report: Connecticut highways among nation’s worst

Connecticut ranks among the bottom five states in the country in overall performance and cost-effectiveness, according to a new report released by a libertarian think tank.

The Reason Foundation published its 29th Annual Highway Report, released on Thursday, had Connecticut ranked amongst the bottom ten states in five of eleven categories used to determine the overall rankings, including urban interstate pavement conditions, total disbursements per mile and bridge deficiency.

The study is based on spending and performance data that state highway agencies submitted to the federal government for 2015, the most recent year with complete data available.

According to the report, the state ranked dead last in the country in administrative disbursements — a metric which looks at general expenditures on state-administered highways but does not include project-related costs. Connecticut spent $99,417 per state-controlled mile, nearly $89,000 more than the nation average.

Overall, New England was a steady fixture in the bottom ten of the rankings, with only Vermont (39), New Hampshire (30) and Maine (23) being excluded. The report ranks Connecticut ahead of only New Jersey, Rhode Island, Alaska and Hawaii in overall performance and cost-effectiveness.

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How Connecticut stacks up against other states in highway performance rankings

Overall: 46

Total disbursements per mile: 44

Capital bridge disbursements per mile: 42

Maintenance disbursements per mile: 31

Administrative disbursements per mile: 50

Rural interstate pavement condition: 35

Urban interstate pavement condition: 48

Rural arterial pavement condition: 26

Urbanized area congestion: 27

Deficient bridges: 44

Fatality rates: 6

Narrow rural arterial lanes: 14

The report also found that Connecticut is one of only seven states now reporting that one-third of their bridges are deficient.

While the report may have harped on the state’s highway deficiencies, it also recognized Connecticut as having some of the safest highways in the country. According to the report, Connecticut has the sixth lowest fatality rate in the nation.